About Me

I was a reporter and columnist for 40 years for a chain of newspapers in the suburbs of Chicago. I'm a military veteran having served in the United States Army Combat Engineers (Cpl. E-4) and a Korean War veteran with an Honorable Discharge from the Armed Forces of the United States of America

Saturday, June 20, 2009

This is not exactly how most fathers spend Father's Day, but these soldiers are caught in the middle of a massive firefight in Iraq. Listen to the communication between troops. TURN UP YOUR SPEAKERSWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/ICqp0bJRu0w&hl=en&fs=1CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

A truck bomb exploded as worshippers left a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq on Saturday, killing more than 70 people and wounding nearly 200 in the deadliest bombing this year.SOURCE: http://tinyurl.com/nkrwjyThe blast near Kirkuk — a city rife with ethnic tensions — came hours after the prime minister warned Iraqis to expect more violence as U.S. troops withdraw from Iraqi cities by the end of this month, but he insisted the deadline will be met “no matter what happens.”

The Americans already have begun pulling back combat troops from inner-city outposts in Baghdad, Mosul and other urban areas ahead of the June 30 deadline set in a security pact that calls for a full U.S. withdrawal from Iraq by 2012.

But continued assassinations and high-profile explosions have heightened concerns that Iraqi forces are not ready to take over their own security.

The 321st Civil Affairs unit has a special job in Afghanistan and that is to "win the hearts and minds" of the Afghan population by providing them with all kinds of services they have not had before. In this video, you see and hear members of the 321st Civil Affairs unit describe what they do in Afghanistan. They also feel the media in the United States has let them down and we couldn't agree more.TURN UP YOUR SPEAKERSWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/_JO_YpxixSU&hl=en&fs=1CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

In this video you see U.S. forces use AT-4 rockets and .50 cal guns as they take on the Taliban in Afghanistan. Lots of communication between our troops and some of the language is explicit.TURN UP YOUR SPEAKERSWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/f2ICLx1GYhc&hl=en&fs=1CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO PLAY VIDEO

Fantastic video footage of U.S. helicopters in action over Iraq and Afghanistan. There is nothing more the enemy fears more than the sound of the "choppers" approaching. They know it is instant death from the sky.TURN UP YOUR SPEAKERSWATCH VIDEO HERE:http://www.youtube.com/v/WR2GUiefbgo&hl=en&fs=1CLICK ON DIAMOND-SHAPED ARROW TO ACTIVATE VIDEO